Abstract
Nature uses molecular motors and machines in virtually every significant biological process, but demonstrating that simpler artificial structures operating through the same gross mechanisms can be interfaced withâand perform physical tasks inâthe macroscopic world represents a significant hurdle for molecular nanotechnology. Here we describe a wholly synthetic molecular system that converts an external energy source (light) into biased brownian motion to transport a macroscopic cargo and do measurable work. The millimetre-scale directional transport of a liquid on a surface is achieved by using the biased brownian motion of stimuli-responsive rotaxanes (âmolecular shuttlesâ) to expose or conceal fluoroalkane residues and thereby modify surface tension. The collective operation of a monolayer of the molecular shuttles is sufficient to power the movement of a microlitre droplet of diiodomethane up a twelve-degree incline.
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Acknowledgements
We thank Isabel Casades (University of Edinburgh) for preliminary studies on fluoroalkane molecular shuttle systems and Bert de Boer and Sense Jan van der Molen (Materials Science Centre, University of Groningen) for providing heptadecafluorodecanethiol and the Xenon ultraviolet-lamp used in the transport studies. The SecretarÃa de Estado de Educación y Universidades and Fondo Social Europeo are acknowledged for a Postdoctoral Fellowship to J.B. This work was funded by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (UK) and as part of the EU research training network EMMMA and the Future and Emerging Technologies project MechMol.
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Berná, J., Leigh, D., Lubomska, M. et al. Macroscopic transport by synthetic molecular machines. Nature Mater 4, 704â710 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1038/nmat1455
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nmat1455
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